The $2 million investment will help customers in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa leverage and apply global technology

Cargill said that increasing farm efficiency while ensuring robust animal health and welfare is a common goal for animal producers worldwide. With different challenges arising in different regions in reaching that objective, Cargill decided to establish a new Technology Application Centre (TAC) in Yakapınar, Izmir, Turkey to help dairy and poultry customers in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa leverage and apply the best possible feed technologies to grow their businesses.

The new TAC further strengthens Cargill’s presence in the region following a 2015 deal in which Cargill acquired a majority stake in Ekol Gida, a leading company operating in premix and feed additives markets in Turkey.

“Severe climate and the availability of raw materials are significant challenges for dairy and poultry customers in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa,” said Scott Ainslie, global strategic marketing and technology director for Cargill’s animal nutrition business.

“This new TAC will enable Cargill Animal Nutrition R&D and applications teams to evaluate and test Cargill global technology under local conditions, such as heat stress. Ultimately, our TACs allow us to more quickly deliver new products and services in the region, marketed under the Provimi brand, that meet the specific requirements of our customers for their locations.”

The new Izmir TAC was created through a partnership with an existing commercial dairy farm owned by the Egesay Animal Agriculture Food Industry and Trade Company, Ltd. The $2 million project will first concentrate on customised solutions relating to ruminants. A poultry centre is scheduled to be constructed and operational by the end of 2017.

“The Egesay farm is a typical Turkish, family-owned farm representative of a large part of the Turkish market and ideal for performing practical field trials,” said Guillaume Smeets, Middle East, Turkey and Africa regional director for Cargill’s animal nutrition business. “Having access to the farm’s 150 lactating cows will enable us to evaluate how to incorporate different, locally-produced raw materials into the rations of cows in different production phases, particularly as they relate to heat stress periods. Furthermore, silage and roughage can be of different qualities, so it’s important to evaluate the nutrient value to animals of locally-produced ingredients.” The TAC will also be used to demonstrate to customers the performance of Provimi’s Rupromin™ mineral range and calf milk replacers in the local environment.

When the poultry centre is completed, research at the TAC will be extended to poultry gut health and maximising production efficiencies while using local ingredients for poultry nutrition. The poultry centre will house 2,000 broilers and 2,000 layers.

“Dairy and poultry are growing consumer markets for this region and to meet the demand, producers are professionalizing and scaling up their operations,” noted Smeets. “The Izmir TAC will enable our customers to obtain the best possible solutions from around the world by leveraging Cargill’s five global R&D Innovation Centres and learnings from our other 12 TACs.”